Thursday, August 19, 2010

QUIET !!!

Maybe I'm spoiled by normally being the only one at the horse camp we usually go to. Maybe I'm just getting old and tweaky, but I've noticed people getting louder. I've noticed this while camping last week. The horse campers were mostly quiet other than their dogs and their dog related shouts, but there was a large group of people camping in the non horse campground that was noisy from 9am-11pm. It seemed as though they were unable to communicate without shouting. And they were unable to camp without sharing their music with others. It wasn't angry shouting or even drunk shouting; they were just noisy. There were campers closer to us who were able to converse and we could not hear them other than an occasional emphasized word or a laugh.

Even at home I rarely ever hear any of my neighbors talking, but one home across the street is a shouting establishment. Maybe it's because they have kids, but I doubt it because one of my neighbors that live closer to me have two young children and I never hear a peep out of them.

Is it cultural or economic? Do people of a certain heritage shout more? Do people of lesser economic advantage shout more? I don't know but we are all listening.

11 Comments:

Actually, I believe it has to do more with levels of education. Stupid people tend to be loud in order to make people listen to them. If they spoke at a purely conversational level, nobody would listen at all.

Could be all of the above. Mostly, I think, it's learned behavior which cuts across cultural lines. You'll probably find that the people in question had a parent who was a shouter. It just becomes the way things are done.

I knew a family, friends of my girlfriend at the time, who were shouters. I think it was because they had never learned appropriate ways of disciplining their children. The kids would start getting out of hand and the mother would suddenly blast out a yell. For me, being unaccustomed to this behavior, it was startling to say the least. Scared the shit out me was more like it, like having a firecracker go off unexpectedly. The effect on the kids? Nada. As though a butterfly had floated past. They'd glance up briefly and then carry on. It was so routine it meant nothing.

Then I think there are people who are just plain insensitive--incapable of sensing how their actions might impact others. Whether it's shouting at a campground or using power equipment at inappropriate hours.

Darev, I don't know how you put up with all the shouting where you work. Do you ever get used to it? And I think it was my late post on Sunday that threw you off schedule.

Rich, It does seem like we are rearing a generation of deaf children. My hearing is surprisingly good for the abuse I've put my ears through. I too know families that turn up the volume for relatives with hearing loss. I guess some people need to learn how to deal with quiet. Some can't live with their own thoughts, I suppose.

Seems like some just don't want to commune with nature! I am glad my childhood memories of camping were much more of the smell of campfires, s'mores, treks to the outhouse in the dark and no other battery operated accessories than a flashlight...